Advice about Starting & Promoting a Fashion Blog - See Post #1 for Thread Rules

[Style Souk]

I have worked for a few online fashion mags/blogs. I believe I have the skills to start my own and would like to, only I don't know where to begin. Does anyone have a blog, specifically a fashion blog? Where did you begin etc? I am also not positive about the objective. I would like to give an insiders view of the NY fashion world- I work for a large conde nast magazine- I think that would be interesting. But is there already a blog like this out there? I don't want to be a copy-cat.

I would adore, and find it fascinating, to read a blog like this.

The 'copycat' issue shouldn't deter you. There will always be a degree of overlap between fashion blogs - as we share and interpret similar content - but it will be your voice and curation of material that acts as a point of difference.

More uniquely, your industry knowledge and 'insider' status will also serve to distinguish you.

I hope that you will start a blog and keep us informed of your progress.

 

[Style Souk]

I'm off work with the flu today and - in my paracetamol-induced haze - have spent the better part of the afternoon reading this entire thread. The level of advice and expertise is amazing!

I would really appreciate some opinions and feedback on my own blog.

Since starting my blog nearly a year ago, it has been ticking over and has built a small, committed core readership. I love writing but feel as though I've reached a crossroads: to either set up under my own domain and give this my best shot, or quit completely.

I'm having a crisis of confidence and doubting my own ability - or lack of ability, as the case may be - and would be incredibly grateful to hear your thoughts.

My blog can be found here: http://stylesouk.wordpress.com

Thank you,

 

[RoRa]

I'm launching my new fashionography blog on blogspot today.
Expect more shoots to come

Please don't hesitate to voice your opinion and critisice my works there

www.fashionoid.blogspot.com

 

[glamrockgal]

I run my fashion blog like 1,5 years and its a lot of work to do.I love blogging.

 

[Susanna-Cole]

For those who host their photos externally (not on Blogger) and link them in using HTML ... where do you host them?

I've been using a Photobucket Pro account and I've noticed over time that the more hits my blog receives/the more time goes on, the photo quality seems to slowly degrade over time. This frustrates me and I'm looking to maybe switch hosts ... Although I told myself, "Never again!" as I've had to reload all the photos on my blog a few times, which takes a day or two, and is a complete pain.

Know of any good (affordable) hosts in which photo quality won't go down the tubes over time?

Edit: On another note, maybe this isn't a good idea? A while ago I edited a ton of posts and they all showed up as new in all RSS feeds. So, basically every one who subcribes to my blog had all these posts show up as new (and why did this happen anyway?! I was only editing), and if I had to put in new links (from changing hosts) for all my photos ... there'd be like a 100 + posts showing up as new.

 

[McClaire]

^ Maybe try Flickr? They have great quality photos.

 

[Susanna-Cole]

^ Maybe try Flickr? They have great quality photos.

Do you know if I could then make the photographs private and have them still show to everyone on my blog though? I wouldn't really want to have a public photostream of others' photos, as most of these photos came from Flickr in the first place, and lately especially, I've been working with the photographers I feature, and while they've obviously okay with the photos being on my blog, I don't know if they'd want them in my/another Flickr photostream, unless it was private.

Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[markese91]

i use postimage.org sometimes but others I actually have a blog on wordpress i uses specifically for images. I upload all of my images there and then get the exact url of the image(it'll say .jpg at the end) and then when i click insert picture on blogger i put the url in where it says from url. this works great for me

 

[Susanna-Cole]

i use postimage.org sometimes but others I actually have a blog on wordpress i uses specifically for images. I upload all of my images there and then get the exact url of the image(it'll say .jpg at the end) and then when i click insert picture on blogger i put the url in where it says from url. this works great for me

Oh, I hadn't though of using WordPress to host images? Is it free to do that? Can it hold a lot of HQ large images?

Thanks so much for the tip!

 

[lightningfields]

Susanna-Cole, for a while I bought a photo album from Godaddy but it was such a hassel to upload and post photos it almost made me not want to blog. Since then I've switched to Flickr and it's great. I'd definitely go with them.

 

[Susanna-Cole]

Susanna-Cole, for a while I bought a photo album from Godaddy but it was such a hassel to upload and post photos it almost made me not want to blog. Since then I've switched to Flickr and it's great. I'd definitely go with them.

Oh, that's two for Flickr then! I think it's about the same cost for Flickr Pro and for Photobucket Pro. My Photobucket account will run out in February. May have to consider making the switch them, but alas, if it'll keep the photos from decreasing in quality over time, might be worth it.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[McClaire]

Do you know if I could then make the photographs private and have them still show to everyone on my blog though? I wouldn't really want to have a public photostream of others' photos, as most of these photos came from Flickr in the first place, and lately especially, I've been working with the photographers I feature, and while they've obviously okay with the photos being on my blog, I don't know if they'd want them in my/another Flickr photostream, unless it was private.

Thanks for the suggestion!

Yes. They do. You can set your settings to where people cannot search, see, blog or hotlink your profile/photos other then you. And you can set copyrights so your protected. Hope this helps

 

[Susanna-Cole]

Yes. They do. You can set your settings to where people cannot search, see, blog or hotlink your profile/photos other then you. And you can set copyrights so your protected. Hope this helps

Oh, excellent, thank you so much, it does!

Now if only I could figure out a way to edit posts and not have them show up in all feeds as new posts. I really don't want to bombard all subscribers out there with "new" posts that have merely been edited with new image links.

I tested a couple of suggestions from online, all of which failed, and once again there are not-actually-new posts showing up as new in some of the feeds.

 

[McClaire]

Have you tried disabling the feed and then re-doing it? Or does it still come up as new posts?

 

[Susanna-Cole]

Have you tried disabling the feed and then re-doing it? Or does it still come up as new posts?

Yes, I did so, though once I re-enabled the feed the posts came up as new. I checked the timestamps too, in the "post options", and they were still set as the orginial date. I think the Google Reader feed and the RSS feed (through blogger? This one) seem to be able to handle edits/changes, and haven't been messed up, I don't think. Everywhere else though, my feed is a mess.

I think it'd be nice if one could edit the feed for their own blog, you know, remove posts, rearrange, etc... There's really little to no control over feeds.

 

[thevignettist]

Flickr is a great image host if you have a Pro account. The guidelines say that you have to link the image back to the original Flickr photo page (which is what I do on my blog, simply because I like to make my Flickr more accessible), but I've seen a couple blogs hotlink from Flickr -- usually it'll start with farm6.static.flickr, or something else.

I really dislike the interface of Photobucket or Imageshack. The built-in Blogger/Picasa integration is pretty nice, but in terms of image quality, I'd really vote for Flickr.

But if you're using Wordpress.org or if you're self-hosted, then you can always store the images on your own server! That's what The Sartorialist does, even though he's on Blogger.

 

[Susanna-Cole]

Flickr is a great image host if you have a Pro account. The guidelines say that you have to link the image back to the original Flickr photo page (which is what I do on my blog, simply because I like to make my Flickr more accessible), but I've seen a couple blogs hotlink from Flickr -- usually it'll start with farm6.static.flickr, or something else.

I really dislike the interface of Photobucket or Imageshack. The built-in Blogger/Picasa integration is pretty nice, but in terms of image quality, I'd really vote for Flickr.

But if you're using Wordpress.org or if you're self-hosted, then you can always store the images on your own server! That's what The Sartorialist does, even though he's on Blogger.

I went with a Flickr Pro account and am liking it better already! Thanks so much for sharing your two cents and experiences!

I thought Photobucket was really rather a disappointment as well, although I got a pro account for free the first year and the second year, dirt cheap, so can't say it was a terrible waste, definitely glad to have changed hosts though.

 

[SJPdeux]

I know there is the concern of google deleting accounts etc but Blogger is just too easy where image hosting is concerned. Especially with the Picasa link @thevignettist mentioned. You can also store images on google server without having them on your blog directly - just makes for easier usage.


www.mycapaciousbottega.com

 

[lovely lethargy]

Favorite hosting site?

I'm sure someone has brought this up in a previous post, so please for give me if this is a repeat. I was considering starting a blog, most likely fashion, though I'm considering various ideas. There are quite a few sites to host on, but I wasn't sure what site is best? Some people say wordpress is confusing and a hassle, some people don't like blogger, some use tumblr although it's not the best blogging site, etc. I need opinions and feedback. If I start a blog, I want it to be easy to format the look and easy to post. Also, I see that a lot of people encourage hosting images on flickr, but I was wondering if a Pro account is necessary?

 

[FrenchCactus]

I'm sure someone has brought this up in a previous post, so please for give me if this is a repeat. I was considering starting a blog, most likely fashion, though I'm considering various ideas. There are quite a few sites to host on, but I wasn't sure what site is best? Some people say wordpress is confusing and a hassle, some people don't like blogger, some use tumblr although it's not the best blogging site, etc. I need opinions and feedback. If I start a blog, I want it to be easy to format the look and easy to post. Also, I see that a lot of people encourage hosting images on flickr, but I was wondering if a Pro account is necessary?

There isn't a hosting site that is better than the other; it just depends on which one you are most at ease with and on what you plan to do with your blog.

As I blog on Wordpress, I can answer your questions about this website. I started blogging last summer and didn't find it confusing or tricky at all. You can choose between more than 100 themes to find a look for your blog and it's easy to blog on there. Also, there is no need to host images on flickr.

Blogger is essentially the same. I opened an account on Blogger as well before I started writing my 1st post. I stuck to Wordpress just because I felt more at ease with it.

People who use Tumblr seem to do so because they post mostly pictures and less text.